Une Très Bonne Soirée

Written Thursday evening, 1 November – now mind you, this all happened TWO WEEKS ago, well before our weekend in Kribi, the internet outage, and all the other posts Chris has put up since then. I’m not a very eager poster, but bear with me, hop into my time machine, and travel back to last month…

Last week toward the end of our meeting with them, the officials of the Église Presbyterienne Camerounaise (E.P.C.) proposed a fête for this Tuesday afternoon, to officially welcome us, they said. So on Tuesday (30 Oct.) we dressed in our best (Chris in a suit and tie, me in a dress and lipstick) and stepped across the road to the main office right around 4:00pm. First the secretary of education drove us to his home (all of 200 yards away) where we chatted with him in his sitting room for a while. Then another good reverend came by and drove us back to the church office from whence we came, where we waited for everyone to sort out into their various vehicles. From there, we caravanned through the raging sea of taxis to the relatively posh quartier called Bastos, coming to a stop at L’Orient Rouge.

Yes indeed, the honorable E.P.C. moderator, was treating us to dinner at a Chinese restaurant! (To our friends Minke and Frank, with whom we shared our ‘last’ Chinese meal before leaving the U.S. – we were wrong! There must be a Chinese restaurant in every major city in the world! We should have gone for Mexican instead…) We were seated by the polite staff at a large round table in one corner, complete with a large ‘lazy susan’ in the middle for easier passing of plates. We ordered drinks as we waited for everyone – guava juice, avocado juice (more of a smoothie, really), and the ubiquitous ‘33’ beer – and chatted with the moderator while others filtered in, eventually standing for a grand toast of welcome with everyone.

Once all the church men had arrived (eight or nine in all), it was time to order; first entrées (literally ‘first course,’ or starters), then the plat principal, or plat de resistance (main dish), and of course a couple bottles of wine to share. It was all à la carte, so I chose ravioli frites (fried potstickers) and boeuf au gingembre (beef with ginger), and Chris opted for pâté Chinois (dumplings) and poulet (chicken) with a soy-based sauce. We all stood again for a prayer, then began to eat. The food was delicious!

While we busied ourselves with our chopsticks (a feat nobody else attempted), our companions dove into a spirited discussion of all things church-related. Really one could expect nothing less of the top E.P.C. officials in the whole of Cameroon. Every now and then someone would toss a few kind words our way, and my fellow lefty (the assistant secretary of education) and I would share some southpaw pride from across the table, but for the most part Chris and I just grinned and ate, understanding hardly a word that was said. Chris said it reminded him of when he was young and his various preacher uncles gathered to engage in intense theological discussions. Though he didn’t understand what they were talking about, it was perfectly alright and he felt very comfortable being a presence but not a participant. So it was with us and our E.P.C. welcoming committee, and they certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves.

After the plates were cleared away, everyone received a tiny ornate cup of rose-scented rice liqueur as an aperitif. After another toast with everyone, the moderator presented Chris and me with white baseball caps emblazoned with the logo for the upcoming 50-year jubilee celebration of the E.P.C. Wow! Of course we put them on right away, much to the delight of all assembled. The baseball caps were made specially for the festivities which would occur the coming weekend in Kribi, and they hoped we could join them. Sure we’ll go to Kribi this weekend! (Kribi is the best-loved beach town in Cameroon.) At this point everyone was noticing that if they peered into the depths of their tiny ornate cups of rose-scented rice liqueur, they could see an image of a young Chinese woman who did not appear to be wearing any clothes. Once you drained the liquid, the woman disappeared. Wow again! As the only woman at the table, I got a refill so that I could see the small woman in the cup again…naturally, I was enthralled.

At Last, we all rose again for a closing prayer. All the men's voices rose in harmony, singing to the tune of 'Beautiful Saviour.' Words something like "Dieu qui depose/de toute chose..." It was lovely. Then back out to the the cars and home again, our secretary of education neighbor dropping us off at our gate. Still proudly wearing our fine new church baseball caps, we went inside for the night.